Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thanks for the Memories

Several years ago, Mom was a novice editor working out of the 11th Hour’s original office on Cotton Avenue. Just beginning to cut her writing chops on CD reviews, Mom came across a jazz recording of Mark Brooker, a new guy in town trying to earn a name for himself in the local live music scene, which barely existed at the time.

Mom liked the CD enough to not only give it a glowing review, but she cleared her calendar to catch a performance of the new Macon crooner at the now defunct Jazzplex (RIP). After the review published, a bouquet of gorgeous Gerbera Daisies arrived at her office door. Not only had Mom become a fan of Mark Brooker, but she had made a new friend.

Fast forward to several years of laughter, tears, drink clinks, and as Al Green sings, times that are “good and bad, happy or sad,” Mom remains one of Mark B’s biggest believers. She can only imagine the look on her face when Mark told her he got a job in Phoenix and would be leaving town. Not only will there be a huge void in Macon’s music scene, but no one can hold a fashion candle to this sharp-dressed man!

But Mark’s leaving Mom with some memories. Dancing at her eighties prom birthday party together . . . The infamous chair jump at the MAGA ’08 afterparty . . . actually, she doesn’t remember it, but there is proof in the picture (and thank goodness Mark caught her!) . . . Strutting the runway together at the Cherry Blossom Fashion Show . . . Maceo Parker on Shuga D’s back porch during Falcons season . . . Watching the Crooner swoon when Honey Shot entered the picture . . . Going into the Mayor’s office together and jamming out to “Macon (It’s Good Enough for Me)” and leaving City Hall with a smile.

Tonight, Mom will say farewell (for now) to her dear friend. And she hopes you plan to be there to sing along.

Jessica Walden + Walden

Welcome to Macon Candy!

She's a media maven by trade, co-owner of a music history tour company on the side, host of radio show "Love Child of Rock" for fun, wife to a candy man by fate, Macon city-dweller since birth and mama to a toddler all the time.

Join Jessica Walden for musings and battle anthems of motherhood as she dives deep into the thoughts and threads of family life, feminism and the colorful fabric of her community.

Send me a Candygram!

Pages

Follow on Instagram

Snapshots of Macon Candy in Motion

Rock + Candy: the Macon Music Story

He was born into a legacy of bon-bons, macaroons and the sweet life of candy manufacturing. She was raised in the shadows of rhythm and blues and after-shocks of southern rock. Together, they grew up in the town of Macon, Georgia that they never knew how much they loved until they fell in love with each other.

In 2011, Jessica Walden and Jamie Weatherford founded Rock Candy Tours, a music history tour company that showcases the legacy of Macon, Georgia’s rich music history. Once home to artists like Little Richard, Otis Redding, James Brown and the Allman Brothers Band, Macon was listed among legendary studio engineer Tom Dowd’s “Five M’s” of music towns, joined by Manhattan, Miami, Memphis and Muscle Shoals. They believe Macon’s storied music history doesn't have to live in a museum, but already existed on its sidewalks, street corners, historic structures and if the walls could talk, they would sing.